August 11, 2010

2009 marked a season that the Albemarle Patriots would like to forget. The Pats went 0-10 last season in Wendell Green's lone year at the head of the program. Now Mike Alley takes the reigns of the Patriots and hopes to lead the team to a turnaround.

Albemarle will take the field this year with a new attitude and mindset. Alley was pleased with his team's participation in off-season programs and had about 80 players at his first practice. New names will fill many positions occupied by seniors last year as a good part of the Patriots' depth chart will be made up of some of last year's junior varsity players.

Lee Corneal will take over as quarterback for the Patriots and will lead a spread offense onto the field in 2010. As for the defense, coaches and players describe it as aggressive and hard hitting. Many players say that fans can expect to see a fast game on Friday nights at Albemarle and hope that their hard off-season work shows come game nights in the fall.

Albemarle opens up its 2010 season on September 3, hosting Monticello.